Open since February 2016, Kalumbitas restaurant has not unlocked its potential yet.

Despite being located in the center of Luanda, Vila Alice, on a street that shares the corner with the King’s Club bar, the fact of being in the middle of a residential street makes parking very difficult. In return, it is easy to find, and the security guards on each gate give a sense of security.

Upon entering the restaurant, we bump into a friendly bar, decorated with a glazed bar cellar, with blue lights to complement the environment. The restaurant decor is filled with African touches, with patterned fabrics in abundance, and art is also very present in the paintings on the wall and near the toilets entrance. There is also a small stage which, according to the waiter, will be used for karaoke and live music nights, yet to be defined as to when they will be.

When ordering, we realized that, after all, most of the dishes were not available yet. The options of what we could have were down to 2 starters, 2 meat dishes, 2 fish dishes and 1 dessert. The waiter informed us that the rest of the menu would begin to be served in a few days’ time.

When the couvert [AKZ 700] was brought, it seemed rather conventional, nothing extraordinary – olives, tuna paté, garlic butter and toast. But when we tasted the tuna paté, we had a big disappointment, as we detected the taste of an excessively fatty mayonnaise, poorly chosen.

To freshen up our taste buds, we ordered a Mojito [AKZ 2000] – again, it was another uninspired choice that failed to eliminate the bad taste of the tuna paté. Well decorated, simple and served in a martini glass, it was unfortunately glorified lemonade with rum.

For the starter, we ordered the Bean soup [AKZ 1,000], that had plenty of vegetables, but it lacked personality in taste. Opting for fish, the main course was Grilled Cachucho (a typical Angolan type of fish) with potato and sautéed vegetables [AKZ 3000], an option to the original menu dish, which would come with plantains and sweet potatoes.

The fish was tasty, but almost too salty. The sautéed vegetables exceeded the limit of saltiness, to the point we could not eat it. On the other hand, the potato was tasty and cooked perfectly, with a hint of garlic that was added to it.

To sweeten the experience, we ordered the Crepe with ice cream [AKZ 1000], which came with strawberry topping. Again, the crepe was bland and the ice cream was rather boring.

To finish the meal, we ordered some tea, which came cold, ending the tasting session without much hope.

Despite the bad experience with the food, the atmosphere is pleasant and the waiters are kind and considerate. This could be arguable, because we were the only customers. Nonetheless, the kindness of the waiters seemed genuine to us.

Therefore, the atmosphere and the service were positive aspects of the restaurant, unlike the food, which really needs to be improved.

We would go back, to taste the new menu, for sure, and also to see whether the karaoke and live music nights were put into practice. Until then, if you go out to eat well, maybe you should rethink if you have Kalumbitas in mind. But if just feel like enjoying a drink with friends, to follow the Euro on a big screen, try it!

You should know that the restaurant is only open on Saturdays for family or social events, previously reserved, thus being open from Sunday to Friday.